Salt Lick Safari Lodge

You stay at Salt Lick Safari Lodge on stilts above a waterhole in Tsavo, Kenya, where elephant and buffalo come to drink at eye level. The lodge has ninety-six rooms built across two levels, each with ensuite bathrooms and views over the water or the plains. Mosquito nets and ceiling fans handle the heat; the electric current runs at 220 volts.

Game drives go out twice daily — mornings and late afternoons — across the Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary. The waterhole below the lodge draws animals close enough to watch from the terrace bar or your room. The kitchen serves buffet meals with live cooking stations at Bura Restaurant, which seats one hundred and fifty people overlooking the water.

The lodge shares grounds with Taita Hills Safari Resort, where you can swim in the pool or visit the museum of World War I memorabilia from the region. Children under five are not permitted, as the lodge keeps quiet for wildlife viewing.

What makes the place work is the waterhole. It draws the game and cools the air, and it is the reason the lodge is built on stilts here at all.